The quagmire

A heavy soil which does not suit any of the players, who will adapt best?

VDZ leaves with the advantage of having a match in his hands, he came close to losing in the first round against Gakhov. Worrying to see him mishandled against a bad guy? Not really, on TennisMetrics we told you that it was a trap match for VDZ so no surprise. This sluggish victory can help him relax for the future, we know that he is defending a final, that the pressure is great. Pressure for Struff too who is a local and will be a minimum expected, we saw it again with Zverev in his first set it is far from easy to enter this tournament. As I said, the conditions are heavy, the ground is "muddy" given the rain which is accumulating, the temperatures are dropping. In short, hell, no one likes playing in these conditions. Struff has a big history in this tournament since he has already made the final in 2021 and twice quarter and once semi. On the other hand, when we look at his journey to go far in general he doesn't beat many people, by which I mean that he doesn't necessarily excel. Not sure either that on slow ground he will be able to play his game as he wishes.